With Leandro Barbosa officially declared out for the season yesterday by the Celtics with a torn left ACL, the Celtics front office has been hard at work over the past 24+ hours. Ainge and company have undoubtably been combing through potential free agent fits and trade scenarios to give this upstart roster some additional help. Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald caught up with Danny Ainge to cycle through some of the team's possibilities. The entire article is well worth the read, but here are a few of the highlights from Ainge:

We have players we like in the D-League, and we have a little more than a week before the trade deadline. And we'll explore all of that. Immediately we will probably bring someone in on a 10-day contract, and we're going through all those names. There's a lot of names actually, but it's going to be very difficult to replace Leandro Barbosa.

Immediately will likely mean the end of the All-Star break that starts tomorrow, and in terms of free agents, the Celtics are looking beyond the D-League and the U.S. border.

There are guys playing all around the world, and I need to figure out when they may become available with their contracts, said Ainge. So there's a lot to go through here.As I mentioned yesterday, Shelvin Mack appears likely to a be a short term fix for the team (likely signing a 10-day deal). However, the C's front office is also doing their due diligence worldwide to find a player capable of helping right away in this offense, predicated on movement and passing, for the remainder of the season as well. Johnny Flynn, who has spent the year putting up strong numbers in Austraila, is one name that has popped up on the radar who could be a possibility.

For Flynn and other international players though, there are buyouts involved and other restrictions that will take time to deal with.

The other key portion of Bulpett's piece is the fact that the C's may only have enough money left against the $74 million dollar hard cap to sign two free agent minimum contracts.

Add to all this the fact the Celtics position against the final luxury tax level a hard cap for them leaves them able to essentially add just two minimum contracts.

With three season-ending injuries all coming after the January deadline to apply for a injury exemption, there will be no cap relief coming from the NBA in this department, putting Ainge in a very tricky spot. He has to pick players carefully to fill a spot, since there will be no second chance at bringing in a new guy once those two salary spots are filled, unless the C's deal a player and cut some salary this week before the trade deadline. With just 10 healthy players on the roster, all of which are members of the C's rotation right now besides Fab Melo, there are no likely candidates to be dealt.

The other option Ainge will probably do to help combat this issue is deal the dead salary of Barbosa (along with some cash and a second round pick to sweeten the deal) for a cheap player on a bad team that could use the extra cash. That way, Danny can fill Barbos's spot on the roster with a healthy player (who probably won't be too useful) and maintain the flexibility to bring in two additional players on the open market once there are more roster buyouts after the trade deadline.

It will take a lot of creativity and flexibility to put together a complete roster that can compete in the East down the stretch, but Ainge and numbers guru Mike Zarren have the intellect to get it done.

Article from July 2012. I am not certain how long the C's retain Bird rights on Kristic!

There hasn't yet been much U.S. news about the possibility of Krstic returning to theNBA, but a translated report from Sportska Centrala titled "Krstic on the Verge of Returning to Boston" expresses that Krstic plans to return to the NBA and has interest in joining Milwaukee, Brooklyn, or Boston. However, the Celtics hold the exclusive Bird Rights for Krstic and therefore can sign him to a larger contract than most other teams by going over the salary cap to pay his salary.

Bo McCalebb scored 21 points as Fenerbahce of Turkey defeated the Boston Celtics on Friday in Istanbul. Attention Celtics Nation. Bo McCalebb, the former University of New Orleans standout whose life outside of the U.S. as a dual Macedonian citizen has been well-chronicled on this site, dominated throughout the game and scored 21 points in Fenerbahce Ulker’s 97-91 victory. NBA washout Romain Sato scored a team-high 24 points as Fenerbahce led throughout. Doc Rivers held out his starters for the entire fourth quarter. From Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: It’s a preseason game and it meant nothing, but obviously not the way you want to start. Most notably, the Celtics’ pick-and-roll and at-rim defense was a … how to put this … nightmare, and it’s clear that Fab Melo is every bit the raw rookie we thought he might be. He had some nice blocks but a lot of missed rotations and fell for any pump fake thrown his way. But then, it’s his first NBA preseason game, so not like there’s a lot of worry there. But Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger provided bright spots. Green’s athleticism looked very much in place, as did his conditioning, showing no rust from being gone from the game for a year. Green scored at will and played well in transition. Sullinger gave the savvy play under the basket he was known for in college. He may wind up leading the Celtics in rebound percentage, which isn’t saying much as the C’s looked dreadful on the glass. This game meant nothing to the Celtics, everything to Fenerbahce, and doesn’t tell us much of anything about the Celtics’ season. But it does make for a fun story.

jonny flynn was like a number 8 draft pick or something like that. He flamed out fast. I would give Mack a shot.

they really just need someone to play 8 minutes a game. Bradley Terry and Lee are all going to be pgs now whether they can handle it or not.

i really think we need a guard with nba experience who can help right away. this is a desperate situation. why not Iverson?

Putting desperate and Iverson in the same sentence is appropriate.

Definitely agree with you. Iverson could have helped the Celtics a few years ago but not now. If he is signed by someone I don't see him contributing much. He may also effect the team's chemistry and locker room in a negative way.

Article from July 2012. I am not certain how long the C's retain Bird rights on Kristic!

There hasn't yet been much U.S. news about the possibility of Krstic returning to theNBA, but a translated report from Sportska Centrala titled "Krstic on the Verge of Returning to Boston" expresses that Krstic plans to return to the NBA and has interest in joining Milwaukee, Brooklyn, or Boston. However, the Celtics hold the exclusive Bird Rights for Krstic and therefore can sign him to a larger contract than most other teams by going over the salary cap to pay his salary.

The Celtics looked incomplete Wednesday night at TD Garden, with just five players on their bench after yet another season-ending injury, this time to Leandro Barbosa.

There are 10 healthy players on the roster and one of them is Fab Melo, whom the organization wanted to keep in the NBADL but couldnât out of necessity. There are reasons why the Celtics canât just dip into the D-League pool and sign three players.

The fact that the Celtics chose to sign Jason Terry to a mid-level exception contract represented a major commitment, considering it locked them into a hard salary cap at the $74 million range, meaning they cannot under any circumstances go above that.

Last season, the club paid out $86 million in salaries, so its choice to use the mid-level exception while under the salary cap â a condition pushed by smaller-market owners who wanted to prevent their bigger brethren from using that deal to flourish by signing players to below-market deals â was a costly one.

So president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the team has to take a patient approach instead of shuttling players in and out for quick fixes. Because of the salary cap constraints, Ainge has to be astute and measured about his moves.

âWe like all of our players, and itâs been frustrating and guys have been playing really well,â Ainge said. âAnd you can see the wind taken out of their sails. You could see it in the faces of the players.

âBut itâs going to take more than this to fold the tent. Our guys have played well. Our defense has been good. We just have to find some solutions. Weâve got this week and the All-Star break to try to find the best options.â

A player such as Kenyon Martin is on the market, but he comes with potential baggage, and according to Ainge, all the Celtics have to offer are pro-rated minimum contracts and there are a handful of free agents who would be insulted by playing for the minimum.

So Ainge and coach Doc Rivers will have to recruit those players and perhaps search internationally for talent.

The Celtics are playing hard and desperate, something that wasnât always the case in the first two months of the season. Ainge wants to reward them for their work with some help, not some D-League retread who will sit the end of the bench. Players such as Carlos Arroyo, Sasha Pavlovic, and Troy Murphy has been added in recent years, with minimal success.

âAs far as players, Danny and I, the last 48 hours, have probably covered every human being thatâs breathing and can dribble and shoot,â Rivers said before the Celtics went out and scraped out a victory over the Bulls.

âWeâre just going to take our time. We donât want to rush into anything. We donât have a lot of flexibility cap-wise. Weâre just going to wait. If somebody shakes loose, or you can get someone, you will, but until then, weâre stretched at the guard spot.â

Hurry up and wait is the theme, with the Feb. 21 trade deadline looming.

Ainge doesnât expect help from rival teams who understand the Celticsâ situation and may try to squeeze more out of a deal with them.

âNobody feels sorry for the Boston Celtics,â he said. âNobodyâs trying to help any team. So you try to find a team to be mutually benefitted, a deal that would be a good for both teams.

âThe challenge is, we have this hard cap right now. With trade possibilities and free agent signings, we need to maximize what we have left. Thatâs why weâre trying to wait as long as we can.â

Ainge said the Celtics are approximately $1 million under the hard cap, providing a sliver of flexibility if they want to make a trade.

Rivers said he told Ainge not to look for particular positions but to seek the best talent and allow him to work the newcomers.

âWeâre going to be very patient,â said Rivers. âOne of the things I told Danny, at the end of the day, letâs not look at a position anymore. Thatâs something we were doing.

âFrom now on, with all the injuries, whoever is out there who we think is the best player, no matter what position, weâll just get them and weâll figure out how to use them.â

Both Ainge and Rivers sounded confident, and after they survived a putrid offensive night to beat the Bulls, there is reason to make the right move, not the immediate one.

With Leandro Barbosa officially declared out for the season yesterday by the Celtics with a torn left ACL, the Celtics front office has been hard at work over the past 24+ hours. Ainge and company have undoubtably been combing through potential free agent fits and trade scenarios to give this upstart roster some additional help. Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald caught up with Danny Ainge to cycle through some of the team's possibilities. The entire article is well worth the read, but here are a few of the highlights from Ainge:

We have players we like in the D-League, and we have a little more than a week before the trade deadline. And we'll explore all of that. Immediately we will probably bring someone in on a 10-day contract, and we're going through all those names. There's a lot of names actually, but it's going to be very difficult to replace Leandro Barbosa.

Immediately will likely mean the end of the All-Star break that starts tomorrow, and in terms of free agents, the Celtics are looking beyond the D-League and the U.S. border.

There are guys playing all around the world, and I need to figure out when they may become available with their contracts, said Ainge. So there's a lot to go through here.As I mentioned yesterday, Shelvin Mack appears likely to a be a short term fix for the team (likely signing a 10-day deal). However, the C's front office is also doing their due diligence worldwide to find a player capable of helping right away in this offense, predicated on movement and passing, for the remainder of the season as well. Johnny Flynn, who has spent the year putting up strong numbers in Austraila, is one name that has popped up on the radar who could be a possibility.

For Flynn and other international players though, there are buyouts involved and other restrictions that will take time to deal with.

The other key portion of Bulpett's piece is the fact that the C's may only have enough money left against the $74 million dollar hard cap to sign two free agent minimum contracts.

Add to all this the fact the Celtics position against the final luxury tax level a hard cap for them leaves them able to essentially add just two minimum contracts.

With three season-ending injuries all coming after the January deadline to apply for a injury exemption, there will be no cap relief coming from the NBA in this department, putting Ainge in a very tricky spot. He has to pick players carefully to fill a spot, since there will be no second chance at bringing in a new guy once those two salary spots are filled, unless the C's deal a player and cut some salary this week before the trade deadline. With just 10 healthy players on the roster, all of which are members of the C's rotation right now besides Fab Melo, there are no likely candidates to be dealt.

The other option Ainge will probably do to help combat this issue is deal the dead salary of Barbosa (along with some cash and a second round pick to sweeten the deal) for a cheap player on a bad team that could use the extra cash. That way, Danny can fill Barbos's spot on the roster with a healthy player (who probably won't be too useful) and maintain the flexibility to bring in two additional players on the open market once there are more roster buyouts after the trade deadline.

It will take a lot of creativity and flexibility to put together a complete roster that can compete in the East down the stretch, but Ainge and numbers guru Mike Zarren have the intellect to get it done.

Why not ask KG and Pierce to restructure their contracts to shave a couple million off to go towards another contract? If they want a championship more than anything else let's ask them to give up some money that they really don't need to that end!

Why not ask KG and Pierce to restructure their contracts to shave a couple million off to go towards another contract? If they want a championship more than anything else let's ask them to give up some money that they really don't need to that end!